Partially privatised telecommunications utility Telkom has been slammed for continued anti-competitive behaviour after it lodged an appeal against a Competition Tribunal order compelling it to hand over copies of disputed client agreements to a rival operator.
Orion Cellular says the appeal is another attempt to hold up Orion’s litigation against Telkom by withholding what it claims are public documents. Orion has accused Telkom of abusing its monopoly position to target unfairly Orion’s clients and lure them away.
“This isn’t just about Orion Cellular and its clients. It’s about the way Telkom continues to treat the telecommunications industry as its own personal fiefdom,” said Orion Telecom managing director Don Tredoux.
Orion says Telkom offered its customers lucrative discounts on national, international and cellular traffic on condition that they discontinued the use of Orion’s least-cost routing system and returned cellular traffic to Telkom’s network.
Both Standard Bank and Edgars cancelled their long-standing contractual relationship with Orion after Telkom’s behind-the-scenes overtures in early 2003, the company charges.
In April 2003, Orion launched an application with the Competition Commission and simultaneously applied to the Competition Tribunal for interim relief. In its papers, it claims that Telkom had created a situation where it could offset any losses that it may make by the increased traffic along its terrestrial lines.
At the time, Telkom claimed that the agreements concluded between Telkom, Edgars and Standard Bank were confidential and could only be disclosed to the legal representatives of Orion subject to a confidentiality undertaking.
The Competition Tribunal concurred with Orion, and on December 15 2003 ordered Telkom to hand over the documents to Orion’s legal team. Telkom lodged an appeal on January 2, and now has 40 working days in which to file the record for the appeal. Only then will a date for the appeal be set.
Tredoux said he did not see why Telkom should claim confidentiality in respect of these agreements, as Telkom had marketed its offerings as generally available to the public provided certain thresholds were achieved.
Orion says that before it can proceed with filing its reply in the interim relief application, it needs full disclosure of Telkom’s confidential agreements with Edgars and Standard Bank to address pertinent issues.
“Why isn’t Telkom being transparent? Why keep these contracts such a huge secret, and what does that imply?” asked Tredoux. “If Telkom is cross-subsidising its rates and heavily discounting its rates to a select few, who is really footing the bill at the end of the day? Is it the consumer?
“Furthermore, Orion has been in possession of all of the call volumes and usage information in respect of both Standard Bank and Edgars and accordingly, the contents of the agreements cannot be confidential as claimed by Telkom,” said Tredoux. — I-Net Bridge